Partnership
An: I do not own Arrow.
Summary: The Workaholic is insisting that it is the most important part of Team Arrow. The Salmon Ladder and Fern disagree. Other silent members voice their opinion leading to a debate and an assassination attempt. Part four in The Silent Members of Team Arrow series.
It was well past midnight but the activity in the lair among the silent members was very energetic. The Fern and The Salmon Ladder were accusing the The Workaholic of over inflating its sense of importance to the team. The Workaholic insisted that it was the most pivotal member of the team and without it, the team would fall apart.
Reaching the end of her patience, Oliver's Quiver finally spoke up, "we are a team, there is no I in team,"
"How could you be any more cliché," the Workaholic responded.
The Fern reluctantly agreed with The Workaholic.
The Compound Bow, who was usually very broody and quiet, jumped in immediately to defend his wife, "It is no cliché, and it is the truth. We are proof of that!"
"Let me guess, you're going to talk about your perfect partnership, the team within the team," The Workaholic responded sarcastically.
"It is a partnership. My wife carries the arrows that I shoot," he explained.
"Felicity could stick arrows in my soil then technically I would be carrying your arrows but that doesn't make us partners," The Fern mumbled.
The Workaholic laughed, "Oliver can use any quiver and any bow and the result would still be the same. You're replaceable!"
"I am not replaceable!" the Quiver said highly offended. The Bow started whispering comforting words to her.
"Idiots, I am the only one that's not replaceable," The Fern said. "No two ferns are alike,"
"No two computer systems either! I'm highly customised to Felicity's specifications,"
"She can create another you," The Salmon Ladder injected.
The Workaholic snorted, "both you and the Quiver are the easiest to replace."
"Replacement or not, we are still equal members of the team. That fact that we might be replaced means that we are important to the team. There must always be a salmon ladder for Oliver to exercise on despite what The Fern thinks of that, there must always be a bow and quiver just like there must always be a computer system," The Quiver says wisely. "Though I'm not sure why there must always be a fern?"
The Fern let out an indignant noise, "Perhaps Oliver should switch to a gun!"
The Workaholic continued to argue why he was more important than them. "You only serve one purpose. I serve multiple purposes. Who would find the bad guys? Who would find the newest take out restaurants in town and who will call Felicity's mother on Skype?"
"The new computer system that Felicity designs after you mysteriously explode because you over inflated yourself?" The Fern commented.
The Workaholic runs through a series of beeps that it knows annoys The Fern.
"I used to think The Quiver with her 'team within a team speeches' was the most annoying one but you're making me rethink that," The Fern said.
"This conversation is pointless," The Salmon Ladder interjected, "nothing we say is going to convince The Workaholic that we are all equal."
"Says the machine that stands there and does nothing all day," The Workaholic responds.
"Despite the vast knowledge that is available to you, you refuse to learn. Nothing any of us say will convince you that you are wrong!" The Salmon Ladder responds.
"Well said," the Quiver cheered.
"I am never wrong. I am always right," the Workaholic boasted.
The Fern lobbied a small ball of dirt that landed close to the keyboard and scattered over the desk.
"That wasn't very nice," The Salmon Ladder admonished.
"How dare you!" The Workaholic screeched. "I keep my work area in pristine condition. Felicity is going to de-pot you!"
"That's not even a word!" The Salmon Ladder pointed out.
The Fern scoffed, "Felicity will not do anything to me. I'm her precious fern. She'll sooner ring the airs on every member of Team Arrow before she hurts me."
"We are a team we should not be attacking each other," The Quiver reminded them but they ignored her and continued to arguing.
"Ha ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha. Ha ha ha ha ha," could be heard coming from The Dummy.
There was a collective groan from all of the silent members.
"It's your fault you woke the crazy dummy up," The Fern accuses The Workaholic immediately.
"I wasn't the one lobbing dirt! Quite frankly that is a move The Dummy would make," The Workaholic responded.
"Be quiet," The Salmon Ladder said. "If we shut up he'll go back to sleep and we won't have to listen to his crazy laughter. I swear Oliver needs to go easy on his sparing sessions with The Dummy."
The team members returned to their silent states as The Dummy continued with his crazy laugh. Eventually The Dummy moved on to his meditative Ohms which really freaked The Fern out. Eventually The Dummy went back to sleep.
"Oi Workaholic, make yourself useful and order a new wing chun dummy from the internet," The Fern suggested. "Our own is stuck in demonic mode."
A deep voice echoed through the lair, "I wouldn't do that if I were you. Tomorrow you will find that plant sans pot on the floor. I wonder how a computer system would function in a pool of water," The Dummy threatened. "Now shut up I'm trying to sleep."
All conversation came to a dead halt. The Workaholic put up on all the screens a 24 hour clock countdown to taunt the Fern.
The next day when Felicity arrived at the lair she found some dirt on her computer. A review of the camera footage didn't reveal anyone approaching her computers. The old her would have delved deeply into the mystery saying that dirt couldn't magically appear out of thin air but considering the magic she had seen, it probably could. She did a quick inventory to see if anything was taken or if her computers had spyware on it but everything came back clean. Just to feel better she yelled at no one in particular to keep their dirty paws off of her baby.
Meanwhile Oliver was training with The Dummy when one of his sticks mysteriously slipped from his hands and went careening towards Felicity's fern. The crash that echoed through the lair drew everyone's attention so much so that Thea might have spilled a little bit of her bottled water near the computers while Felicity was preoccupied with her fern.
"Fuck," Oliver cursed. He knew he was in trouble now.
"Oliver, what did you do?" Felicity asked with a threatening tone.
"Nothing love, just focus on your computers and the next time you turn around, your lovely fern will have been upgraded to a bigger pot," he said with a charming smile.
"You have one hour to fix this," Felicity said before she turned around to resume her work. She found Thea wiping her sleeve on the ground.
"What are you doing Thea?" she asked her.
"Nothing," the young girl chirped quickly moving away.
Felicity narrowed her eyes at the brunette but continued on with her work.
Oliver moved quickly, picking up the fern and the dirt placing it in on some moist newspaper. He rushed down to the flower shop just before it closed and bought a new pot and more dirt. Before he was leaving a sign caught his eye triggering an idea for an apology.
He was back at the lair in twenty minutes with his purchases intact. It took him five minutes to re pot the plant. When he was finished he called out to Felicity.
"Felicity honey I bought your fern some company. I got a corn plant and a heartleaf plant both grow well in low light," he said.
Oliver was relieved when Felicity was delighted with the purchases but she seemed to fawn over the new arrivals more than him. Not even a set on the salmon ladder had been able to pull her away from the new additions.
That night, even though The Fern was still traumatised from yet another near death experience curtsey of The Dummy, he began plotting to get rid of his new company. Not only did the new plants not know the pecking order, they tried to state that they were superior to ferns. How dare they! His leafy companions could also sleep through The Dummy's ohms. Even The Quiver thought that was unusual. The Dummy was obnoxiously loud and after that display today, not one of them was brave enough to tell it to shut up even The Salmon Ladder that was made of metal wouldn't comment. He needed to figure out a way to get the new plants to cross The Dummy and then he could go back to his status as the only plant in the lair. Someday soon he would get his title back!
From his height The Salmon Ladder had a good view of everyone. He didn't like the new plants. He was sure they gave him the stink eye earlier. There was one thing he was sure of; The Fern was not standing for the intrusion in his territory. From a team perspective they really didn't need two more plants. The Fern was a lot to handle already. Even The Dummy eyed them cautiously before he began his ohms. He assumed The Dummy hadn't accounted for the addition of two more plants in his plans. Whatever happened, the team needed to be trimmed. The Salmon Ladder would have laughed out loud at his own joke but he didn't want to disturb The Dummy. A blow torch might suddenly arrive in the lair.
The Workaholic was quiet; not a beep was made. The little spill of water from Thea had been a shot across the bow. The Workaholic didn't know how The Dummy did it but he knew if he continued to piss it off he would be sunk. He needed to waterproof his circuitry before he ordered a new peaceful dummy. The new plants had no place on his team. He knew The Fern was plotting something and he was actually running the odds to see if the probability of success would improve if The Workaholic helped with the plan. Perhaps The Compound Bow and Quiver could help remove one of the plants and The Salmon Ladder the other. It was going to be a mathematical feat but he was sure they could accomplish it.